In this chapter Adler’s discussion of overcompensation is used to illustrate neurotic behavior. Overcompensation, however, can be applied more broadly as an occasional coping strategy. Describe an...

In this chapter Adler’s discussion of overcompensation is used to illustrate neurotic behavior. Overcompensation, however, can be applied more broadly as an occasional coping strategy. Describe an instance in which you overcompensated for feelings of inferiority. To get started, try mentally scrolling through various contexts of your life—the sports field, embarrassing moments with friends, new college acquaintances, intimate relationships. Select an example of overcompensation. In what way did you overcompensate—physically, verbally? What would have happened had you not overcompensated but instead acknowledged your feelings of inferiority at that time? Would the situation have been better or worse? Is such masking of your true self sometimes necessary and healthy? Why or why not?